You are still alive

Chapter 5

Oaklee Monroe POV

I hurried home worried I would be late. I pushed open the door to my house and it was deadly silent. Usually it is silent but I could feel the tension in the air. I silently closed the door behind me and tried to slowly go upstairs.

"You're late." No hello? I freeze on the second step and slowly turn around to be met with the face of my aunt. 

"Come here." She says as she motions with her finger. I flinch and slowly walk towards her. She takes my bag and drops it at our feet. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and leads me towards the basement.

No, no, no, no. I let her walk me down the steps and into the basement. 

"You know I don't want to do this but we have rules and if their not followed you will be punished." She states as she walks over to a table in the far corner.

She turns back around and points to the wooden table in the middle of the room. She locks the door and looks back at me. I slowly walk to the table. 

The basement is all cement and all the walls are grey. The door is steel and the whole room is sound proof. There is a table with tools by one of the walls, opposite the table is a mattress on the floor without anything else.

The mattress is for when I don't have the strength to walk up after my punishment. I shiver and look down at the table that is a little lower than normal height.

I slowly start to climb on it, only to be stopped by my aunt.

"Shirt off." Then she turns back to the table. I close my eyes and mentally prepare myself. My hands shakily take off my shirt. I fold it neatly just to waste time before laying on the table on my stomach. 

My walks over but I don't see what she's holding. 

"You will get 30 hits on your back with a device of my choosing. 10 for being late and 20 for putting your phone where we can't hear the audio." I nod as tears start to fill my eyes. "You will count for me."

She hits me. Pain explodes in my back and I cry out. I try to move but she hits the back of my leg with a paddle in warning. I look over at her to see she choose the stick with fish hooks which digs into my skin with each hit. This is gonna bleed everywhere.

"Count." Then she hits my leg in warning again.

"One." I breath out. 

She hits me again and opens a previous cut that didn't heal yet. I cry out again and tears run down my cheeks. 

"Two." I cry as she continues to hit me and I let her counting each one.

"30." I say as she hits me one more time hard. 

"Have you learned your lesson?" She asks looking at me. I nod. She sighs. "You know I hate doing this, I would much rather reward you but you never seem to listen." She then wipes the stick before leaving with the door unlocked but I don't think I could move even if I tried.

I try to sit up but end up falling down again. My back is numb with pain and my eyes are dry and without tears. I lay there for hours until I can finally get up again. I head upstairs without my shirt because it will just get bloody anyway.

When I get to my room, I shower and just wrap my whole midsection to look like a mummy because I can't just wrap my back. I laugh a little at how I look before going to bed on my stomach.

Hopefully tomorrow is better.